Chapter 8
KILLIAN
Shit. I’m so fucking screwed. There’s no way this will end well, but there’s also no way I can let her leave like this.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” My father roars behind me, his voice sending shivers down my spine. He’s smaller and weaker than me, but so many years under his thumb taught my body to react with fear when I hear him talk like this. When I don’t do what he wants me to.
“I can’t let you take her,” I tell Byrne, Fiona’s father.
“She doesn’t want to go with you.” And I slide a glance at Fiona.
Her eyes beam at me, the phantom of a smile on her face.
She might not want me, too, but I’ll make everything right again.
I’ll get her away, safe from both my father and hers.
“You’ll ruin everything!” My father roars again, but this time I’m ready. Just looking at her makes me feel braver. Makes me feel like I could fight the world to keep her safe.
Byrne’s men step forward, creating a semi-circle around us, protecting him and Fiona. All of them aim their guns at us. My father’s men aim back.
“Don’t listen to him, Byrne,” my father says. “This idiot does not know what he’s doing. He wasn’t born for this life. He has no idea how to deal with it.”
I shoot a glance full of wrath at my father.
My pistol shakes in my hand. “I never wanted this,” I spit at him.
“All I’ve ever wanted was a fucking family.
And you knew that. You dangled that in front of me every time you needed me.
” I scoff. This is so stupid. I’m so fucking stupid.
I should have run with Fiona when she told me to.
Should have escaped this life when I had the chance.
Instead, I hung on to the hope that my father would change. As if.
Guns cock. My father steps away, into the wall of his bodyguards, a snarl on his face. “I won’t forget this, Killian,” he says, hiding among his guards, leaving me standing by myself. As always.
I turn back to the others, cock my gun, and then see Byrne’s guards moving.
My father’s guards move too. With a bang, the shootout begins around me, but not at me.
I wince at the sound, see the bullets flying at my sides, then find Fiona’s gaze.
Her father holds her as she tries to fling herself at me, arms outstretched, eyes wide.
Her mouth moves to my name. I throw myself at her.
People fall. Screams ring in my ears. A bullet cuts through my leg, the sting of it a mere burn in the back of my mind.
I fling myself at Fiona, taking her in my arms and then dropping to the ground, covering her body with mine.
Byrne follows me, three of his guards standing their ground around us.
They don’t shoot me, and I don’t care to think about it.
I have her in my arms again, and all I care about is keeping her safe.
The silence hurts my ears when the shooting stops. Cold metal touches the back of my neck. I press Fiona’s face to my shoulder. God, let her be safe. If they kill me, don’t let her see it. Let her keep another memory of me. A better one.
“Don’t,” says Byrne, and from my periphery I see him standing up.
“He’s the son of McCarthy,” someone says, disgust coloring his voice. It’s the man holding the gun to my neck. I recognize his voice. Is he one of my father’s men?
Byrne steps closer. The cold metal leaves my neck. “He protected my daughter.” And the two start arguing in low voices.
I take the moment to pull back and search Fiona for any injury. “You alright, princess?” I ask, tilting her face up.
She nods, then spots the red dawning on my pants. “You’re bleeding,” she squeals, gripping at my shirt. “Killian, you were shot!”
“It’s just a flesh wound. What matters is that you’re safe.”
Byrne turns back to us and offers me a hand.
I accept it, getting to my feet and wobbling for a moment.
Fiona tucks her body against mine and I manage to keep my balance, hand on her waist, her arms around me.
I look around us, studying the carnage stretched on the ground.
I keep Fiona’s back to the scene, avoiding her seeing it.
“What happened?” I ask, noticing my father stretched in a pool of blood. He doesn’t move. His eyes don’t blink.
“Your father’s men weren’t happy with him for a long time,” says Byrne. “Apparently, they didn’t like the whole idea of kidnapping my daughter. They’re family men, too.”
I nod, still staring at my father. Fiona moves and then sees the scene. She gasps, then buries her face in my chest, holding me close.
“I’m so sorry, Killian,” she murmurs.
With a kiss on the top of her head, I turn her away once more. My father is dead, and I feel nothing about it. There’s no pain, no sadness. It’s with shock I notice I never loved the man, as much as he never loved me. He only used me for all these years, and I can’t bring myself to mourn him now.
A man I recognize as my father’s second, or the closest he’d have to a second in command, approaches, arching an eyebrow at me. “Will you take your father’s spot? Either that, or we’ll join Byrne’s operation.”
Fiona pulls back. She looks at me, really looks at me. I think she’s afraid of my choice, but really, it’s a no-brainer. I shake my head. “Byrne can have it all. I don’t give a shit.”
She sighs, and Byrne motions for us to exit the warehouse. We follow him and a couple of his guards. The others stay behind, certainly to disappear with my father’s body and those of the ones who stood by his side. A car waits there, and Byrne stops next to the door.
He and Fiona exchange a look. It dawns on me they haven’t spoken. It’s the first time they have a moment together. Maybe I should give them this moment. I step away, but Fiona holds me close.
“Thanks, I guess,” she starts, “for keeping Killian alive.”
Byrne twists his lips into a sad smile. “He kept you safe. That’s something I wanted to do to your mother and couldn’t.
” Fiona’s brows rise, but he keeps going.
“I loved your mother more than I thought possible. But she was afraid. She was terrified of this life. When you turned two, she left, and she asked me not to follow.”
Fiona’s shoulders drop. “She did that?”
He nods. “I respected her wishes. I would send her money often, but she’d always send it back.
” And he chuckles, looking into the distance as if into a sweet memory.
“She was pure fire. She would rather make it do working in the bar and saving every penny she could than accept my dirty money. Her words. She made me promise I would not come after you, and for many years she would send me news about you. When your first teeth came out and when you first rode a bike.” He smiles.
“When you graduated high school. She let me watch that one. Hidden in the shadows, but she did.”
Fiona’s mouth curls on the edges. I pull her tight against my body. She stays in silence for a moment, digesting his words. Finally, Byrne offers a hand.
“I won’t force anything upon you, Fiona.
With McCarthy gone, you’ll be safe, but I can still send you guards and money if you so wish.
And if you don’t want to see my face ever again, that’s fine, too,” he says.
Fiona takes his hand. He presses a kiss to her knuckles.
“As a father, I’m proud of the woman you’ve become, and I’m glad you have such a brave man next to you to keep you safe. ”
Fiona smiles back. “Thanks,” she replies, weakly.
Seeing that’s the best he’s going to get, Byrne steps away, letting her hand drop. He opens the back door and motions us in. “You take the car home. I’ll stick around to make sure everything’s dealt with.”
Fiona enters and I follow her, shooting a grateful glance at the man. He nods back at me and shuts the door.
Silence fills my ears, so strange after the blatant sound of the shots. The car jerks into motion, the window between the driver and us closed, drenching us in soft light and privacy. I turn to Fiona, draping an arm around her shoulders and pulling her close. She sighs.
“That was a lot,” she whispers, craning her neck to brush our lips together. She smiles. “But you came after me.”
“I couldn’t let him take you,” I whisper back. “That was the last straw. I’ve spent my life being a coward, straining under my father’s thumb. When I saw you leaving, I knew I existed for a reason.”
“What reason?”
“To love you. To keep you safe.” I brush a finger down her cheek, across her chin. “To make you happy.”
She smiles, snuggling closer. “That’s three reasons.”
And I smile back. How could I not? This woman does this to me. “You’re the reason, then. You’re my reason.”
Fiona stares at me, then presses a kiss to the corner of my mouth. “I love you. Is that weird of me?”
“Why would it be?”
“Because I fell for my captor.”
I hum, swaying my head from side to side as I bury my fingers in her hair.
“A bit weird, maybe. But it’s alright, because I love you, too.
” And I claim her lips, kissing her as if there’s no tomorrow.
The experience of almost losing her was too much.
Fiona moans against the kiss, raking a hand up my leg.
She kisses me back, making me wish I could fuck her right here, right now, spread open on this back seat...
She pulls back, breaking the kiss. “We should get you patched up.”
“What?” I ask, my mind hazy with lust.
She shows her blood-stained palm. “You’re still bleeding.”
“Oh.” And I cluck my tongue. “We’ll have time for that. First, let me kiss you a bit more.” And I kiss her again, wanting to taste her until there’s nothing else in the world. Turns out there isn’t.
She’s the only thing that matters.